When two good friends pay a visit from California I have to bring out all the goods and show them the best locations to photograph in Colorado. Michael Bonocore, Natalia Stone, and I spent all night photographing the Milky Way over Capitol Peak and just after sunrise resorted to our tents for a quick nap before heading off on our next adventure. The view out of my tent door wasn’t too bad!

Late April and early May has been a whirlwind for me with a cross-country move and several trips in between, so my apologies for the delay on the May wallpaper. Better late than never, though, right?! May’s photo comes from a little known beach in northern California called Bowling Ball Beach. These boulders range from 1 foot wide to some close to 4 feet. A long exposure really sets a nice mood and this particular evening I was blessed with an amazing sunset to complement the boulders.

One of my favorite things about photography is that luck can be just as much a part of a photo as years of knowledge and experience. My friends and I only expected to shoot at Blue Lake in Alaska for a few minutes before heading off to another location for the day, but when we came over the crest and saw the still lake, we were greeted with a rowboat that seemed to hover on top of the smooth water – the perfect foreground subject. We ended up staying here for an hour and this was one of my favorite shots. The lake was so calm and the air so still that it’s almost difficult to tell where the boat ends and the lake begins.

Every time I’ve shown this photo, I’m always met with extreme curiosity about why the rocks slide across the desert. Is it weather? Humans? UFOs? The truth is no one really knows. The phenomenon has never been captured on film, but scientists speculate that the rocks slide across the desert floor by high winds that are timed perfectly after a rare freeze. The icy surface makes it easy for the 80 pound rocks to glide before settling back down to rest until the next weather pattern blows through. I definitely recommend visiting Death Valley. It is, by far, one of my favorite national parks in the US.

In mid-April, I traveled to Costa Rica to enjoy some warmer weather and relaxation time on the beach. I’ve been to Costa Rica before and it’s one of my favorite countries to visit. The locals are extremely friendly, the food is great, and the weather is perfect. Not to mention the beautiful beaches. This beach is right next to the villa that we stayed in outside of a town called Sámara. Horses would run on the shore around dusk as the fishing boats were pulling into the harbor just as the evening sun set. I always find a spring trip is the perfect transition from winter to spring/summer weather in Colorado.

The eastern plains of Colorado do not get near as much attention as the Rocky Mountains to the west, but each August the eastern crops of Colorado are greeted with fields upon fields of sunflowers. They are only fully blossomed for around one week out of the year, so catching them at the right time is tough. It’s truly a unique site when the sea of yellow goes on for further than the eye can see, only to come to a stop at the foot of the best mountains in the US.